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Mobile deep-cycle setup?

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jonny290

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I want to set up a robust, flexible 12v power system for my '77 K5 Blazer. Currently, the details I have in mind:

-Deep-cycle marine battery mounted in back bed area
-All radios, gps, toys connected to one 12v power bus
-that 12v bus should be switchable to use either truck battery or deep-cycle as the source
-Some sort of provision for charging/maintaining the deep cycle battery
-Some way to 'emergency' jump start the truck off of the deep cycle without removing the battery
-Undesired current control (am I looking at fat diodes to stop the deep-cycle from 'powering' the truck when not wanted?)

What would be the best way to go about this? I would imagine that somebody's come out with a 'little black box' to allow an additional battery for vehicle electronics - anything on the market, or is this a homebrew setup?
 

jim202

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New Orleans region
The best way to do this is to use a dual battery isolator. What this
amounts to is a very large, high current diode system. Generally it is
mounted with a large heat sink.

You lift the battery output terminal from your engine alternator.
Connect the alternator output to the common of the diode isolator.
Connect the original wire from the alternator to one side of the diode isolator.
Connect your new deep cycle batter to the other side of the diode isolator.

Now any time the engine is running, it will charge both batteries. You don't
have to worry about the voltage drop in the diode isolator, as the normal
vehicle electrical system will sense this voltage change drop. It will
cause the regulated output to compensate for the drop.

If you look at Sears or a couple of other places that cater to the heavy
duty electrical system users. Some boat and RV places will carry
these dual battery diode isolators. These are not regular diodes.
They are low voltage drop diodes designed just for this use. They
are used on fire trucksa and ambulances all the time.

For jump starting the engine, you can install a starter type relay to
tie the two batteries together via a push button on the dash. Run the
control voltage from the second battery in the back.

Use a good heavy wire ( # 2 or larger ) from the second battery up to
the diode isolator. I would recommend that you slide this heavy wire
through an old piece of garden water hose. This will protect it from
chaffing any place on the vehicle frame.

One word of caution. The normal vehicle alternator will probably
not stand up long to a high current, high duration output for
very long. You might be forced into replacing the normal
alternator with a heavy duty one. Generally it will also
have a much higher output current rating. Something in
the order of at least 100 amps is a starting place.

You might get away with the original one, but when it fails,
don't be too surprised. The normal auto alternator is not
made to run at full output for extended times. This dual
battery system your looking for will push the alternator
to the limits if you run either battery down very far.
 

jonny290

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Thanks, awesome info. I'm looking at battery isolators now and this interesting link:

http://www.discovercircuits.com/H-Corner/bat-iso.htm

It's basically an IC/driver chip for FET transistors that turns them into low-drop diodes for this exact purpose.

I have a 90 amp alt on the truck right now, it's happy but I'll keep an eye on it if I do this.

Question: What do deep-cycle batteries like, charging-wise? I can't imagine that they'd be happy with 60, 80 amps coming down their throat when I start the truck after they're discharged. Would I be wise to look into some sort of current limiter circuitry, maybe keep it down to 20 amps or something?

I do not forsee frequent charge/discharge cycles on this, but I do want it to be ready when I need it to be. I'm both a very spontaneous camper (as in, 30 minutes notice) and interested in disaster preparedness.
 

jonny290

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:D My other ride is a Nissan 240sx with some ridiculous stuff done to it, including a trunk mounted battery. Angle iron makes for an awesome battery rack. :)
 

trooperdude

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An RV battery isolator will do a good job.
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/products/index.cfm?prodID=1869&src=SRQB

I'd use an absorbed glass mat (AGM) deep cycle battery so you
don't have to worry about outgassing during charging/operation.

I prefer the batteries from http://www.mkbattery.com

West Mountain Radio also has some nice power management:
http://www.westmountainradio.com/RIGrunner.htm

I use all of the above in my mobile installations, and for backup
power in my shack where I run two AGM batteries in parallel.
 

jonny290

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splendid, yeah, the Blazer install is sort of a dry run / test install for the shack backup system which will be developed next summer. :)
 

wesm1957

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I ran dual batteries years ago. I had a deep cycle mounted in the truck to power my radios and the light bar I had on my car. I was using a heavy duty battery isolator that was for motor homes. It failed and I decided I would use a heavy duty continous solenoid relay. I had gotten some 2/0 battery cable that had been taken off of a semi trailer that had a lift gate. I had a single pole double throw switch wired in with the center pole going to the solenoid and the outer poles went to the ignition circuit and to the aux. battery in the trunk. Any time the car was running both batteries were being charged. I could shut the car off and use the light bar and radios and not worry about a dead start battery. The set up also came in handy if the start battery was low and would not turn the car over, just flip the switch and I had a ready made jumper set up. The company I work for has a similar set up on our semi tractors. They have a slipt 4 battery system. All the lights and accessories are powered off the 2 aux batteries. That allows the crank batteries to stay charged. The trucks use an oil pressure switch to control the solenoid relay once the truck is running and oil pressure is up. We also are using a battery called "The Extreme" by Odyssey. They are not cheap by any means. They are sealed and can be mounted in any position but upside down. Their warranty is also free replacement and not pro-rated.

Wes
 

trooperdude

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GreatLakes said:
You might want to bookmark this item for consideration in you shack backup design!



West Mountain Radio PWRgate PG40
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamps/0965.html


I use this in my shack.

That setup is:

50 amp regulated power supply into the power gate
1 lead to the two AGM batteries
other lead to the RigRunner

I run everything in the shack off of 12vdc, including the computer
wireless router and dsl modem.

Powergate keeps the batteries topped off.
Power supply runs any surge like for transmitting and supplies primary power.
When the utility voltage fails, it automatically fails over to the backup batteries.
When utility voltage returns, it automatically starts charging the batteries.

I'll take some pictures when I have time.

I use mobiles exclusively in the shack, all racked in a 6 ft telco rack using
4U spacers and Troy vehicle mounts.
 
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enine

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Jan 24, 2006
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I have dual batteries in my truck now. Your blazer unless its a diesel will have room under the hood for the second battery as the diesels all got a second battery so ger the second tray and mount it.
You can get the isolators from NAPA stores which is handy since they are everywhere. I have a 105A alternator so I went with the 120A isolator, welded up a little bracket holding it off the fender so its close to the alternator to make the cable runs as short as possible.
 

jonny290

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I've looked, should be plenty of room, i'll put the battery up front

now to wait for money to start coming in :p Christmas wiped me out.
 
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